Automatic trimming, grooving, and strip-inserting machine



APEH 22, 1924.. L E-$1,679

E. s, DANEELS AUTOMATIC TRIMMlNG, GROOVING, AND STRIP INSERTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 19, 1925 2 Sheets*Sheet 1 E. s. DANIELS AUTOMATIC TRIMMING, GROCYING AND STRIP INSERTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 19. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A-Haornesys or irregular lengths of boards, planks and pmeet n tea Eminsr STUART DANIELS, or WASHINGTON, premium or cotcmeral AUTOMATIC TBIMMING, GROOVING, AND STRIP-INSERTING Application filed November 19, 1923. Serial' No. 675,767.

To all whom'e't may 00mm.-

Be it known that I, ERNEST STUART DANIELS, a subject of the King of England, residing'at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented. certain new and usefulImprovements in Automatic Trimming, Grooving, and Strip-Inserting Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to machines for manufacturing wooden shipping cases or crates and more particularly, to machines for cutting and forming the end pieces or sections of packing boxes or cases for petroleum or generalmerchandise, for which a strong, protective and non collapsible' container may be required adequately to protect the goods from injury incident to careless and rough handling during shipment.

The invention is an improvement upon the machine shown and described .111 my Patent No. 1,471,246, dated October 16, 1923, and

the principal object is to provide a'machine for automatically trimming or cutting odd united panel sections, to uniform lengths; for cutting grooves in the ends of the trimmed boards or sections and for applying strips to the grooved endsito" form reinforced and composite flooring and, packing case or box-end sections or panels which will not collapse or break apart, even though cracks or splits may occur in the wood.

A further object is to provide a-.machine of the character referred to which willbe" simplein construction, efficient in operation and comparatively inexpensive of manufacture. I

The invention will first be hereinafter more particularly fiscribed with reference thenpointed out in the claims at the end of the description. a 1

In said drawings, F ig. 1 is .a perspective view of the assembled machine. i

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, detail plan view of the machine table or platform," showing the adjustable sliding panel by which the trimming bladewith associated parts, is movably carried.

Fig. 3 is a view taken on theline-3--3 of Fig. 2, the machine table bein'gwshownfrag inentarily in section and the' trimtn gblade and cooperable parts being shown n cl'e' vation; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sideelevat-ion of the working table or platform taken on the line H of Fig. 3, showing the blade-carrying panel in end elevation to illustrate its sliding connection therewith, the cutter and associated parts being omitted.

- The invention consists generally inathe ar:

rangement of saws or other gcutti V for first trimming or cutting odd pieces of' boards, planks or nnitedpa iel. sections, to uniform lengths and then grooving or kerfing the edges of the boards, planks or sec- .tions to be operated upon, the articles being fed to. the cutters-,one piece at a time, -by suitable conveying mechanism. After the cutting orkerfing operation, the grooved boards or planks are fed forward to a'me'chanism for applying the narrow stripsto the kerfs, and after the latte]; operation, the completed and reinforced box-end'panels'are discharged from the machine.

" Referring to the drawings inwhich like reference numerals are used to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 5 denotes a platform or table sup-.

' orted at a convenient height above the floor y a standard or pedestal- 6, the latter being sccurable to the floorin any desired manner. Adjustable hoppers 7 and. 8 are arranged or mounted on opposite sides or ends of the table, the former being adapted to contain odd or irregular lengths of boards or other articles to be groovedor kerfed, while the spaced hoppers 8 are adapted to contain uniform shooks or strips to be applied in. the ends of the grooved articles. and strips are stacked one upon theother in the respective hoppers? arid-8 and the lowermost in each are allowed to beperiodically and successively withdrawn therefrom by mechanism to be. hereinafter described A driven shaft 9 (.shown'in Fi" 2) is journaled in adjustable 'bearin su jacent one end of the table, said shaftii aving a pair of spaced sprockets 1O keyed thereto, over which a pair of endless conveyor chains 11 are passed, said chains being cooper'able and adapted to, move longitudinally of the table within spaced longitudinal receptive grooves provided in its surface. The chains 11 are also cooperatively united by spaced crossbars The articles 1 lot 12 which are secured to the upperfacesof the chains and move laterally therewith along the surface of the table.

The sprockets'lO are arranged on the driven shaft '9 in line with the longitudinal grooves in .the'surface of the table, so that.

the chains 11, carried thereover, will pass di-- rectly beneath the hopper 7 ,"the rear and front walls of the latter-being recessed or cut away sufficiently to permit the cross bars 12 to pass laterally through the hopper, successively engaging and withdrawing the lowermost board or section therefrom. I

3 co-extensive therewith, said guides being The endless chains 1-1 also engageably pass overa similar pair of sprockets 13 secured toan idling shaft (notshown) the latter beingsupported in bearings located below the table intermediate its ends, so that the chains in spanning the distance between sprockets 10 and 13, rest by virtue of their ownweight within the longitudinal grooves provided in V the surface of the tablefwhich are preferably of a depth sufiicient for the upper faces of the chains to be flush with the table surface.

Opposed adju table and yieldable guides 14 are arrange upon either side of the article conveyor, substantially parallel and preferably formed 'in two parts,'the lower of which are adjustably secured to the surface of the table by means of clamping bolts 15extended through apertured integral lugs which overlie transverse slotsprovided in the table, the'upper parts of the guide members being somewhat wider than .the lower parts or formed with overhanging marginal portions projecting toward the conveyor, under which the edges of the boards orarticles to be grooved, are depressingly confined. The

upper parts of said guides are yieldingly. secured to the lower parts, by upright headed studs or bolts 16 threaded in orifices provided therein, and each studor bolt carries an encircling expansible spring bearing" against itshead and against the top surface of the guidemember, tending to depress the. latter with a, force sufficient to maintain a yielding pressure upon the underlying edges ofthe boards or articles as they are conveyed through the machine. v

As the lowermost articles contained within the hopper'7 are successively withdrawn therefrom b'ythe conveyor, their ends are initially moved against a resilient spring elerestate An expansible spring 21 supporteil by a span pin or bolt, is provided between the rear face of the block 18 .andanf'up'right shoulder of the bracket 20, hyjwhich said blockyieldingly pressed at substantially right angles toward the conveyor.

A- swinging rod or bar 22 is also provided, said r'od having one end fitted loosely-within a receptive-recess formed in the block 18, its other end being pivotally securedto an adjustable swivel-bolt 23, as'clearly'shown in Figs/1 and 2.'

The swinging bar 22 carriesva reciprocable bracket 24f the free end of which extends through a rectangular-recess formed In the bar and an expansible spring is provided between said bar and an upright shoulder on the bracket, tending to hold the latter extended toward the conveyor at substantially right angles thereto. An idling roller'25 is carriedon the inwardly extended end of ters, to firmly hold the same in position against the guide 14, prior to and during the trimming-or cutting operation.

One side of the table 5 (at a point preferbracket 2%, said roller being thus adapted to. exert a yielding pressure upon the edges or sides of articles conveyed. toward the cutably below the swinging bar 22) is cut away I 7' or formed with an open-ended rectangular recess, the opposed and parallel recess edges of the table being grooved to provide'a guideway for a sliding panel 26, the latterbeing provided with extended flanges or ton ues adapted to engage andfit within the gro ved edges ofthe table. The panel is transversely adj ustable with respect to the table, by means of stationary cross-bars 27 secured against the under surface of the table by bolts '28,

said cross-bars carrying fixed clamping studs or bolts29 extending upwardly through-corwhich the latter is bolted rigidly in place. The panel 26 carries 'a'verticallyrevoluble trimming blade or cutter 30 which projects through an elongated slot formed therein,

said outterbeing keyed to one end of a rapid 1y rotatable shaft 31 journaled in fixed bearings 32, which are rigidly secured 'to the An ordinary adunder side of the panel. justable belt pulley 33 is provided on-the opposite end of the shaft 31 by which the lat responding slots provided in the panel, by

ter may be rotated from any suitable source of power.

The panel 26 also carries a deflector plate 34 by which the odd or trimmed ends'of-the conveyed boards'or sections, are diverted from the adjacent grooving" cutter and thrown off the table. r Kerfs or grooves are formed or cut inthe edges of the boards or sections as they are conveyed forward through the machine by means of horizontal rotary cutter blades or saws 35 arranged on either side of the C011? 1.

ve'yOr w t eir @uai g e s is th P platformvby the conveyoiglare forced into the depending central portibn thereof being extended into or through a rectangular opening or recess 53 in the/ platform 37,,so

that the push-plate may 'move' transversely back and forth in the path of travel of the conveyed articles. The push-plate is movable with an angular bracket 54, an arm of whichextends upwardly through the recess 53 and is yieldinglysecured to. the plate by.

means ofa reciprocal stud or bolt encircled by an expansible spring 55. I

The other arm of the bracket 54 extends horizontally 1-(subjacent the table) toward the stop-plate '46 and is slida'bly fitted in sleeves or hearing blocks secured to the table, a depending catch finger being formed on its extended extremity, adapted to releasably engage the leading edge of cam surface 51 on the cam 50, by which the bracket 54 carrying the push-plate 52 is drawn forward on each revolution of the cams One end of a chain. or cable passingover an idling pulley (not shown). is secured to the bracket 54,'its other end being secured to a weight 56' against which the bracket is intermittently drawnv forward-"and. said weight returns the-bracket and push-plate to normal position as soon as the catch finger releases fromthe cam surface.51.

It will be notedthat the push-plate is not actuated until thestop-plate has returned to normal position, since the conveyor alone i'mpels each successive board or panel forward sufficiently to expel the preceding boardfrom the platform before the pushplate is brought into operation.

The entire'mechanism,may be actuated by an ordinary belt or chain driven from a suitable source of power, and for such purpose the gear, s rocket wheel or pulley 45 (above mentione di provided on the shaft 44. A sprocket 57 is also keyed to said shaft and a similar sprocket (-not shown) is provided on the driven shaft 9', over which a spanning drive chain58 is engageably, passed for transmitting power to the latter. A

guard 59 is placed over the spanning chain as a precaution against accident, and a hand-wheel 60 is also releasably secured to one end of the shaft 9 in order that the latter may be manually rotated forpurposes of adjustment. i

The operation of as follows:

Sections of boards, planks or other material'of odd, even or irregular lengths and widths are stacked one upon the. other in hopper 7, which as hereinbefore mentioned, is adjustable ino'rder to accommodaterarticles of varying dimension. The spaced cross-ba s carried by the endless, continumy improved device is meters ously moving conveyor, successively engage the-lowermost sections within the hopper and withdraw the same therefrom, moving posite yieldable guide 14, by which they are squared, and the roller 25 exerts a yield ing pressure against the ends or edges of the articles, just prior to and during the trimming or cutting operation, to prevent their dislodgment or disengagement with the guide 14. If the articles are of such di mension that excessive pressure or strain results upon the spring element 17 or the be pressed and moved away from thecon veyor against the tension of its associatedspring, thereby alleviating the extreme pressure exerted upon the articles but applying a compound pressure thereagainst.

As the articles are conveyed forward against the trimmingblade 30, they'will be roller-carrying bracket 24, the sliding block l 18 on the end of the swinging bar 22, will L y ress of' the articles through the machine brings them into cutting contact with the respective opposed grooving blades 35, by which parallel kerfs or grooves of the desired depth are cut in their opposed ends or edges.

.AftGI the-trimming and grooving operations, the articles are discharged by the conveyor onto the platform 37 against stopplate 46 for the strip-inserting operation, and the push-plate 52 forces them into "proper position with their edges depressingly engaged by the runners 39 which hold them in rigid position.

As the adjustable strip-appliers 40 are moved, tdward each other by the cams 42, they engage the lowermost strip released from the respective hoppers 8 and force the strips firmly' in place within the opposing grooves of the board. When this application has been effected, the actuating member's retract. Simultaneously, the stop-plate moves below the level of the latform and the finished board or article is discharged from the machine-by the pressure of'the succeeding board thereagainst as the; latter is moved into positlon on the platform, whereupon the stop-plate returns to normal fore the push-plate ,52 is actuated to move it into position for the strip-insertion.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire. to' secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

osition to confront the succeeding boardmamas ed, an en ess continuously moving conveyor located below said hopper and adapted to remove and convey articles therefrom,-mean s for trimming or cutting the articles to a predetermined uniform dimension while carried by said conveyor, said means 'comprising a slidably adjustable panel clamped to said table, a rotary cutter blade carried by said panel disposed in'the path of travel of said articles and adapted to cutting con tact therewith at substantially right angles thereto, a bar pivoted at its rear end and yieldingly pressed at its forward end toward the plane of the cutter blade and yieldable roller and spring compound ressure elements carried 'by said bar or pressing and holding the articles 'in proper position prior to and-during the trimming operation, and means-for cutting grooves in said articles while carried by said conveyor.

2. In a wood trimming, grooving and table adaglted to contain articles to be treatstrip-inserting. machine, the combination with a table, of a hopper mounted on said table, adapted to contain articles to be treat ed; an endless, continuously moving conveyor'located below said hopper and adapted successively to remove and convey articles therefrom, means for trimming or cutting the articles to a predetermined uniform dimension while carrie by said conveyor, saidmeans comprising a slidably adjustable panel clamped to said table; a rotary cutter blade carried by said panel, disposed in the path of travel of said articles and adapted to cutting contact therewith at substantially right-angles -.theretp; a bar pivoted at its rear, end and yieldingly pressed at its forward end toward the plane of the cutter blade; an article-engaging spring member carried at the forward end of said bar, and

a yieldable roller and spring compoundpressure element carried by said bar intermediate its ends for co-operatively pressing and holding the articles in proper position prior to and during the trimming operation,

and means for cutting grooves in said articles while carried by said conveyor.

3. In a wood trimming, grooving and strip-inserting machine, the combination with a table, of a hopper mounted on said table, adapted to contain articles to be treated; an endless, continuously moving conveyor located below saidlhopper and adaptedsuccessively to remove and convey articles therefrom, means for trimming or cutting the articles to a predetermined uniform dimension while carried by said conveyor, said means comprising a slidably adjustable panel clamped to said table; a rota'r cutter blade carried by said panel, dispose in the path of travel of said articles and adapted 'to cutting contact therewith at substantially.

right-angles thereto; a swinging bar pivoted at one end, a yielding slidable block through which the opposite end of said bar I extends, a resilient article-engaging member carried by said block, and a yieldable spring-pressed roller element carried by said bar, forming compound pressure elements therewith for pressing and holding the articles in proper position prior to and during the trimming operation, and means for cutting grooves in said articles while carried by said conveyor.

42111 a .wood trimming, grooving and strip-inserting vmachine, the combination with. a table, of a hopper mounted on said table adapted to contain articles to be treated, an endless continuously moving conveyor located below said hopper and adapted to remove and convey articles therefrom,

means for' trimming or cutting the articles); to a pr zdetermlned uniform dimension while carried by said conveyor, said means comprising a slidably adjustable panel clamped to said table, a rotarycutter blade carried by said panel disposed inthe path of travel of said articles and adapted to cutting contact therewith at substantially right-angles thereto; a swinging truss bar pivoted at .one end to thetable, a spring-pressed compound sliding block through which the opposite end of said ba freely extends, said block being yieldingly pressed toward the plane of the cutter blade; a resilient articleengaging member carried on the forward 'end of said block, a spring-pressed yieldable ERNEST STUART D NIELS. Witnesses:

ANNA J. ANDERSON,

HAROLD P. SOHUOK. 

